


Let's Exhale A Warmer Breath

by killingmonsterswritingthings



Series: 10 Days of LawLu 2020 [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: 10 Days of LawLu 2020, Affection, Cuddling & Snuggling, M/M, Napping, mentions of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killingmonsterswritingthings/pseuds/killingmonsterswritingthings
Summary: Luffy comes to the Polar Tang for a surprise-visit while Law works. Law muses about their relationship.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: 10 Days of LawLu 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021261
Comments: 11
Kudos: 136





	Let's Exhale A Warmer Breath

**Author's Note:**

> 10 days of lawlu is back and so am i, baby
> 
> written for lawlu week day 1, "affection". enjoy :)

They showed affection differently.

Luffy, having come out the other end of a childhood marred with abandonment but with the luck to never truly be alone, loved with abandon. He knew how to make it count.

Law, beaten over and over first by illness and then by betrayal and nearly two decades of nothing but plotting his revenge, usually didn’t quite know what to do with himself. He believed that sometimes leaving someone was better for them than staying.

But Luffy did not share that belief, and the first time Law had tried to say goodbye, Luffy had simply refused to accept it. The second time, Law had told Nico Robin, because she understood - even if she told him he would not get far, and that he was making a mistake - to tell Luffy, and then stole away. Luffy came after him, dragged him back like he had done with his crewmates time and time again, angry and petulant, but filled with so much love he could burst.

“There are reasons to go,” he had yelled, “but this? This, we do together.”

So Law had stayed. At first only in the knowledge that Luffy would never let him leave, and in time growing into the realization that he didn’t have to leave.  _ Wanting  _ had never come into it.

That was where the present found them. Law was writing a surgery report in his office on the Polar Tang to go over with Chopper later, fretting over Luffy’s recovery. Another one. Once again. He had almost lost his leg to infection this time, but still refused to stay in bed for more than a day at a time - except for the days he had spent unconscious from fever of course.

Law was just finishing up when there was a metallic clang at the door and he looked up to see Luffy hobbling through on his crutches. Law was out of his seat in a heartbeat. Years ago his pulse would have skyrocketed but now he immediately jumped into damage control.

“Sit down,” he instructed, taking Luffy’s arm to steady him and make sure he stayed off his leg, and guiding him to the sofa in the corner that he had only put there at Luffy’s insistence. It was true that it was nicer to fall asleep there than at his desk. “You were supposed to stay in bed.”

Luffy grinned up at him, and Law could see a hint of pain pulling at the corners of his mouth, too. “I wanted to see you.”

“You could have sent one of the others. Or called. You have a Transponder Snail for a reason.”

“Mhm, no, I needed to see you  _ now _ .” Luffy hadn’t let go of Law’s arm yet and Law let himself be pulled down onto the couch.

“I assure you it would have been faster to send Usopp to get me than to come yourself. Down the stairs, no less.”

Luffy shrugged to make it seem like it hadn’t bothered him, but his movements were sluggish.

“Well, you rest here now. I have to finish writing something up but then I’ll be right with you, alright?”

Luffy nodded, leaning back into the sofa, and Law rose to walk back to his desk.

“Why do you do those, anyway?” Luffy asked when Law had picked up his pen again. “You don’t have time to read them in an emergency anyway.”

Law didn’t look up and started on the last couple notes he still had to write up. “So I can learn from them. And others, too. Chopper won’t know exactly what I did with your leg unless I tell him, so this is easier. And maybe in the future I won’t remember as clearly, so it can be a reminder, too.”

“Hm,” Luffy made. “Makes sense.” Law heard him shift, snuffling a little.

Finishing the report took a couple minutes longer than he had thought and when he put his pen down and looked over, Luffy’s head was tipped back against the back of the couch, mouth slightly open, snoring quietly. They way down here must have taken more out of him than he had thought. Law rolled his eyes and pulled the blanket from the foot of the couch over Luffy’s form. Then he carefully fit himself onto the cushions alongside Luffy. He propped his cheek up on his hand and watched Luffy sleep.

With Luffy asleep, Law could watch without the other tilting his head and asking if there was something on his face. He just liked mapping it out. His unkempt hair. The unevenness of his skin, lips all too often cracked from salty sea air and wind. The scar under his eye.

They both needed to be in control, but they went about it in different ways. Law planned, and Luffy lead, and made things up on the go. And Law observed. Where Luffy had to be in the thick of it, he stood back and watched as things came together.

“Mhmm, stop watching,” Luffy mumbled, “I can hear you think. It interrupts my nap.”

Law gave a low chuckle. “Alright, I’ll close my eyes.”

“No, just don’t stare,” Luffy said, his eyes still closed, “Scritch my hair instead or something.”

Law obliged, sinking his hand into Luffy’s hair, who gave a little sigh and nuzzled into the touch. Even now, Law always hesitated in touching Luffy, always sure he didn’t deserve it. Where Luffy was uninhibited, Law needed to be pulled in, and even that sometimes wasn’t permission enough. But Luffy had told him what to do, so he started running his fingers through the strands. It only took a moment for his hand to cramp up however; the position was awkward and he didn’t have the full movement of his arm.

“Sit up for a moment,” he instructed, and Luffy heaved a sigh but let Law shift them around until Luffy was sitting between his legs, leaning back against Law, slid down a little so his head was resting on Law’s chest, who now had way better access.

Law busied himself with massaging Luffy’s scalp and disentangling knots in his hair that definitely hadn’t seen a comb this week yet. Luffy’s body on top of his was a comfortable weight, and he let his gaze run down over his relaxed limbs to where his leg disappeared under the blanket.

“Let me take a look at your bandages later?”

“Mhm. Nap first. Then leg. It feels okay.” With how relaxed Luffy was, Law didn’t doubt it.

Luffy smushed his cheek further into Law’s hoodie and Law put an arm around him so he wouldn’t fall off the couch. He tipped back his own head, too, and closed his eyes. If Luffy said it was nap time, that’s what it was.

In moments like these, he knew why Luffy had wanted him to stay. It was hard, a lot of the time. And even harder work beyond that. But above all, it was happiness.

At the end of the day, he loved Luffy. And that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from BTS' brand-new song [Life Goes On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5q5mZbe3V8) because duh
> 
> thank you for reading and see you tomorrow! you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/luffylaws) and less regularly on [tumblr](https://leiathelight.tumblr.com)


End file.
